Kamila Rakhimova came back from one set down to upset last year’s finalist Jamine Paolini 4-6 6-4 6-4 in the second round at Wimbledon.
Paolini broke serve in the fourth game of the first set. Rakhimova broke back for 4-5 in the ninth game when Paolini was serving for the first set. Paolini earned her second break in the 10th game to win the first set 6-4-
Rakhimova saved four break points in her first service game of the second set when Paolini was leading 6-4 1-0. Rakhimova never dropped her serve in the second and third sets and earned the decisive breaks in the seventh game of the second set and in the first game of the third set.
Rakhimova edged closer to win when Paolini sent a shot long at the baseline. The 23-year-old player sealed her first top 10 win on her fourth match point.
Rakimova is making her second Wimbledon appearance after losing in the first round. She has only made the third round twice in her 13 previous Grand Slam appearances.
Paolini, who finished runner-up to Barbora Krjicikova in last year’s Wimbledon final, is the fourth top 5 seed to lose in the first two rounds after Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Zhen Qinwen lost in the first round on Tuesday. Fifteen of the top 32 lost over the first three days. Only one of the top 5 seeds (Aryna Sabalenka) has reached the third round.
“It feels amazing. I enjoyed myself on the court today … I believed in myself and worked for it. I just tried to play point by point; it doesn’t matter the score, doesn’t matter the opponent, and did my job”, said Rakhimova.
